twinstalker

Trading a reliever midseason makes some sense. Don't be surprised, though, if the Twins trade someone like Ryan this offseason. In some ways he'll command a better return than anything offered at the deadline. The Red Sox got attention by leaking their interest in Ryan at the last seconds, but they weren't offering anything (just the Password), and I'm sure the Twins had gotten lots better talent in offers or at least in discussions. But one thing teams couldn't do was offer anybody already in their lineup. That won't necessarily be a holdup in the offseason.

Falvey didn't trade anybody he wasn't going to have to trade at some point, if he could. Even Varland he sold probably at his high point of value. You can criticize the return for each player, though I suspect most people's expectations weren't realistic. The main issue wrt the deadline was trading the whole pen, but with the state of the team, you don't need to have a complete bullpen until 2027. Did he trade anyone else he didn't realistically have to? Falvey's got a lot of restrictions, we know that. But there are three things under his control I would deem failures: Identification of hitting talent. This is mostly about drafting U.S. and signing int'l hitting talent. Jenkins was a no-brainer as the 5th of five #1 picks in a draft (I argued Crews didn't belong). Lewis was an under slot pick and has yet to really show he's a decent #1 pick. In nine drafts the only hitter to show himself has been Luke Keaschall. That's horrible. The only int'l signing to tease is Emmanuel Rodriguez, and he's so flawed I don't he does anything especially good at MLB. Kaelen Culpepper and Brooks Lee have shown themselves to be candidates, but even the latter was an obvious pick (who's development is questionable). The Twins have wasted all sorts of high picks on hitters who had no chance once they got to the mid-minors. Development of hitting. Thus far there's very little if any evidence the Twins can develop hitters. We've seen them ruin a few seasons for hitters, perhaps. They thought they could change Martin's swing, and that backfired. They also traded for a very good low A hitter in Gabriel Gonzalez, and we watched him have a lousy A+ season in a Kernels uniform. All first rounders should have a great chance once exposed to organizational development, but Cavaco, Sabato, N. Miller, DeBarge, and other promising hitters like Julien haven't been helped one bit, it seems. The identification and development are mixed together, so it's hard to parse, but it's apparent the Twins have problems with both. Sleeping with Boras. I've been upset about this from the beginning, as there's very little to gain. Boras clients won't extend. They're overpriced. And because they're all about money in one way or another, they rarely perform to the pay level they've gotten for themselves. Lewis is under team control through 2028, but if Duran and Jax and Ryan were trade fodder this year, you can bet Lewis, as someone who won't extend, will or should be dealt as soon as he's having a great season, if he ever does. Walker Jenkins is Boras and will present similar problems a few years from now. These three things are generally what Falvey has done poorly with. I'm guessing he's learned his lesson with Boras, so I'm not all that worried with that moving forward. The hitting "identification" at least was maybe addressed in part with the international scouting changes. There appear to be no obvious changes to domestic drafting/scouting and I don't know of changes to hitting development (which I'd overhaul somehow, some way). The big positive is the pitching identification and development, starting with Ober and including even Ryan, who wasn't obvious like Gonzalez was as a hitter in the Polanco trade. That's a big deal and not an area you really want to mess with. I think Falvey should be evaluated on all of the above, and he's batting about .400 in a endeavor where .700 is maybe the standard.

3.5 years is the beginning of 2029. You think that's the best case scenario for Tait? He's at A+ now, and it's reasonable to assume AA at midpoint 2026, AAA by 2027, when Jeffers will be gone. He can get called up that year if things go well. Also, Twins won't fix Roden, but he might not really need fixing. His improvement might come naturally, though you'd like to hope he could have handled MLB better.

Julien struck out 29 times in 97 PAs. That doesn't matter all that much if you want to see who batted best in the minor leagues, which I suppose this is all about. However, just like a pitcher who doesn't strike anybody out, my thought is he probably shouldn't be listed due to his K-rate. At any rate, he's a mess, and it doesn't matter what luck he hits into at MLB. I didn't really sign up to watch him take third strikes down the middle for two solid months.

Well, he didn't. Calvin was coerced into moving into the Metrodome.

I sometimes think reports just get recycled from other sources we've already finished with. I also think ownership or a front office easily and often plants things like this. It's probably the Pohlads leaking info or false info they think could help their reputation a bit.

They traded Varland for value, it wasn't the same sort of trade as the rest. You can disagree with the value, but they didn't need to trade him, obv. Rojas and Roden have value, and they probably are trading Varland at his peak value. With France they save only $100k (1/3 of the difference between him and a min salary), so unless the Jays dumped him already, they probably wanted to see if he could hit lhp. Here's the scout: Rojas must have been hurt earlier this season, so I'll go with his last chunk of innings: 56 ip, 50 h, 12 bb, 61 k at age 21 last year at A+. His K/9 has increased significantly in 23.2 ip at AA/AAA this year to 13.5. He doesn't really walk guys. Projections for pitchers are difficult, but he does seem to have a chance. Roden was an old draftee (22 in 2022) whose first full season in 2023 was split between A+ and AA, where he hit and got on base with modest power. His outstanding trait was a 10% K rate at A+, 15% at AA first trip, 14% AA second trip, 14% AAA first time, 9% second time this year, and 21% in MLB in his first 113 PAs. He's adjusting and should be a fine hitter, better than Larnach probably. Between the two acquired, it's probably a good trade. Varland is likely to have a short time as a dominant reliever, and that time would be while the Twins stink, Still, we all love Louie, so it doesn't feel great.

I'll correct myself here. I'd looked up Rojas last week as a guy to possibly draft in one of my league. I probably looked up six complex/low A guys with him. I remember him being good, but I didn't remember that he was at AA (maybe now AAA).

Rojas is the guy here, though he's far away. Roden should be fine by next year but he's not the main piece.

Jax dealt to TB!!!!!!

That's why they use cursive.

If Ryan did go to Boston, it's 100% there's a Vazquez/Wong swap as part of it.

Castro dealt to Cubs

I'm not saying Horn is going to be good, but has hasn't pitched for the Rangers except some very good innings this year, and the top 30 lists aren't getting updated for guys like him until the offseason. He a lh version of what the Twins look for, and he's likely to fit right into their development system. If it still exists going forward. Plus there's probably a good chance the Twins had their eye on him when the Rangers took him in the 6th round last year. Twins can sign Coloumbe again this offseason.

I said time and time again, when you get in bed with Scott Boras, it's all bad news in the end. Lewis will be gone in 1-2 years, Jeffers at the end of his team control (or as a rental to some team), and Jenkins within six years of his first MLB AB.

I guessed last night that it's going to be Javier and Caratino due to salary.

Sure, Get it on, Bang a gong, Get it on .

Coloumbe traded to Rangers for XXXXXX

Or, wait for it,.......Juan Soto!

I can't find return. Will maybe edit this when I see it. Can't imagine I'll know the name, but this also might be a ptbnl based on Stewarts innings or, say, WAR for the rest of the season.

I'm seeing Stewart to Dodgers but can't find trade report.

Just a warning that Reading (Phillies AA) is a hitter's paradise and stats are misleading. That's on one hand. On the other, Mendez is 21 with a good slash and really low K rate. He stands a decent chance of reaching MLB. He's striking out an absurd 14% while young-ish for AA. He sort of feels like a lh 4th OF, which is sort of an oxymoron with the limited space (due to 13 pitchers). I don't know his exit velocities, but from the basic stats, especially K rate, he looks like a guy who can make it to the bigs. We've talked about lottery tickets, and pitcher Villoria is the face used on the lottery ticket advertisements. It's a smart get by Falvey, as Dombrowski wasn't going to hold up a deal for a guy like that. As for the value for Bader, yeah, Mendez was about what you could expect, Villoria provides a tiny amount of hope.

Yes, I had drafted Ryan in many of my leagues in spring to summer 2021. He was good but scouting reports were nervous. What he is now, though, is a product of Twins development along with his positive traits that made it happen. But I liked him a lot, and what he immediately (first few years) was with the Twins is something I expected. The growth from there with new pitches is not really something you predict. But yeah, I was head over heels with that trade.

Easy 3rd behind Jenkins and Keaschall.

Massive overpay only because Rogers is meh. The return is incredibly overrated. Drew Gilbert has and will always suck. Tidwell is probably appropriate value. Butto is...unnecessary in this deal it would seem. Not sure why he's in there, but it seems weird to trade a reliever and get one back. Perhaps a way to open a 40 spot.